The new biography of Hirschman is one of the best I have read in a long time.
Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael dot perelman at gmail.com Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901 www.michaelperelman.wordpress.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Julio Huato Sent: Saturday, June 22, 2013 11:52 AM To: Progressive Economics Subject: [Pen-l] Why planning is important This illustrates the reason why, in my mind, strategizing and planning is so important. Communism will be improvised or it will not happen. But to improvise it, to bump into it serendipitously and/or by sheer brawn, it needs to be thought out in advance in due precision and detail. Only to find in retrospect that the precision was unnecessary, irrelevant, or "useless," that the details (wherein the devil lies) were all "wrong." http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2013/06/24/130624crbo_books_gladwell?currentPage=all Don't hate. I cannot stand this fellow, Gladwell, either. And I don't even care whether he gets things right. I haven't read Hirschman's book, the subject of the piece. Hirschman though was one of those fellows with the mental subtlety to make even the economists understand the need for a mushier branch of the discipline labelled "development" (not to be confused with "growth macro," although I don't know why not confuse them). The book in question is the Principle of the Hiding Hand (out in print). I read this Gladwell piece as I'd read a piece of fiction. Still, if it stirs up your neurons, it is good. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
